January 29, 2010

Finally back from CHA! It was great to get out of town for awhile but good grief! It was NOT what I would consider a vacation! Nevertheless, we had a really good time and saw some amazing things and lots of creative people but I am glad to be home even if it means I have to get back to work. I'll be posting some pics from the show as soon as I have a chance to go through them all, crop them, make sure I remember what they all were, etc. In the meantime....

Not that I'm one to blow my own horn (although I would if I could), but here is the latest cover art from Rubber Stamp Madness. I did this several - SEVERAL years ago but since they obviously keep everything that anyone sends them, they brought it out of the vault. There's also a nice article about Deadbeat Designs and a catalog review inside. Rubber Stamp Madness is the longest running rubber stamp magazine and every issue is always full of great cards and articles and ads from tons of rubber stamp companies, many of which you probably haven't even heard of! They also have a website with loads of information which you can see HERE. You gotta check 'em out!

More soon - gotta unpack, do laundry, catch up on all the crap I let slide over the last week. But I could also use a nap on this cold wet day. Hmmm - decisions, decisions!

January 22, 2010

Well, I'm off to CHA tomorrow so no blogging for awhile. I'm sure that others are more glued to their computers but not me. I think some poor fools would actually go into withdrawal without being 'connected' but not me - I can gladly leave it behind for a few days! However, my camera is packed so hopefully I'll get a few good pics to blog about when I get back. And for those of you worried about Scissor, he is in good hands. A friend is house/cat sitting - not that the damn cat gives a rat's ass (which I guess would mean more to a cat than to a human) so I'm sure I'll return to the same look of disdain that I get every day.

Meanwhile, here's another card featuring one of the new stamps. It's embossed in something called Chocolate Twinkle - who comes up with these names? I painted the star, heart and Texas shape with pearlescent watercolors - can't remember which brand but they are all basically the same, I don't care what anyone says!

Off to run a couple of last minute errands and then I've gotta pack, which now requires extra thought thanks to overzealous airline 'safety' regulations (what... doesn't the fact that everyone has to take their shoes off make you feel safer?). And I'm hoping to work in a few sets of tennis - I can deal with no computer, but no tennis? Yikes!

January 18, 2010

Hey, y'all. Well the classes at Scrapbook Haus in New Braunfels went great! As usual, the crazy women in and around New Braunfels were enthusiastic and entertaining and just plain fun! In fact, after the class Susan (the owner) and I were talking about happy and unhappy people. You know how some people are just happy? These people always seem to be in a good mood and are able to deal with life's twists and turns and come out smiling. Susan has a lot of happy customers - maybe because she's a happy person herself. Anyway, the stamping world seems to have more happy people than unhappy ones probably because it's hard to be unhappy when you're being creative. Every once in a while you'll run across someone who is attitudinally challenged but luckily they are few and far between and are pretty easy to avoid.

Where was I going with this? Oh hell, I can't remember. Anyway, thanks to all who took my classes and thanks also for being so damn happy! I had a great time and look forward to going back in a couple of months. I've got a great idea for the next class!

This is what we did in class. It's based on a card Suze used to make back in the 80's (she was like 25 or so). There's a rubber band inside that makes it pop up when removed from an envelope! We focused on the new chocolate images and everyone's cards came out wonderfully different.

I'll be going to CHA next week - leaving on Saturday and will be back on Thursday so if you have a stamp emergency, call someone else! I'll be schmoozing with all sorts of fun people and will hopefully see some new products I can either use or make fun of... so you know I'll be stopping by to see what boy genius Tim Holtz is doing! I'll let you know!

January 15, 2010

Wow, what a busy week! In addition to sending out a ton of orders to some lucky stamp stores with excellent taste, I've been getting ready for a couple of chocolate themed classes at Scrapbook Haus in New Braunfels this Sunday. I'm also doing a trunk show down there with all the new stuff so I basically haven't stopped making stamps for days. Even tonight I'll be trimming some more rubber while watching whatever is in the Netflix envelope that arrived the other day.

Tomorrow, however, is a play day! I'm spending the day in Austin just roaming around to some of my favorite haunts and probably stumbling on some new ones. Hopefully I won't spend this month's profits all in one day but I do 'need' a few things. Of course, it's not the 'needs' that I'm worried about...

Anyway, here's a quick card with one of my favorite new stamps. Even thought it's one stamp, you could easily ink just the top for the front of a card and then put the bottom on the inside or stamp it twice and cut out and pop up the earth. I like a stamp with a little variety, don't you?

By the way, if you haven't already donated to the Red Cross, here's an easy link to get you started: www.redcross.org.

January 12, 2010

Where does the time go?! It's a good thing I don't have a real job because I don't think I could get everything done that I "need" to. Finally a beautiful day where the temperature is bearable and I've got orders to get out - which I'm completely thankful for - but Mr. Blue Sky is calling me. "Maaaaarrrrk, come out and plaaaaaaaay."

This is one of the most popular so far of the new stamps. The idea is a total rip off of some of those from Outlines Rubber Stamp Company but with my art. This was embossed and colored with Tombow Markers on watercolor paper but I've also done one with colored pencils and popped up different boxes. That sample is in a pile somewhere and as soon as I excavate it, I'll show it to you! Don't hold your breath, however! My office was so clean and organized 3 weeks ago and now it's a mess. Typical. Anyway, you could also cut out any of the images and use them as mini embellishments.

OK I've got another box to pack before tennis tonight. Fortunately, the sky isn't as loud when the sun goes down!

January 08, 2010

On days like today it would sure help if I had personal warmth. I know there are plenty of people that enjoy winter but I am not one of them. Give me 100º any day! But clearly the temperature is beyond my control and for some damn reason I don't always get what I want. But I can avoid it and today I'm staying inside with the heat cranked up and working on a few orders I need to get out.

Here's another card from the latest stamp release. You knew I had to have some new Texas stamps, right? If your local store hasn't ordered these yet, they must not love you enough! If you're going to the convention up in Dallas next weekend (the Mesquite one), stop by Stamp Asylum's booth - I'm working on their order today so they should have plenty to see!

OK - off to put on another pair of socks and a sweatshirt and get to work.

January 03, 2010

Thanks to a cold, damp Sunday, I managed to get the new images online and assuming I jumped through all the necessary hoops, you should be able to order whatever you want! Check 'em out HERE.

That is, unless you have Internet Explorer which is still not friendly with my little website. After exhaustive research (about 15 minutes worth, at least), it turns out that the problem isn't with my site. The general consensus is that the fault lies with Internet Explorer itself which is only a slight relief since the millions of poor souls that don't know any better still won't be able to see what I've got to offer (get your minds out of the gutter). Fortunately, there are options: Mozilla and Firefox seem to work fine but the best (according to my aforementioned research) is to download Safari for PC - which you can do HERE. Give it a try - bet you'll be getting rid of IE ASAP! Who knows... pretty soon you'll be buying a Mac like the rest of the cool kids!

So here's another new card featuring one of the new stamps.

Howdy, dammit - when Thinking of you doesn't quite fit. Speaking of fitting, it fits perfectly in the purple rectangle scallop punch from Marvy. I think it's called Giga but since that's a stupid name and doesn't mean anything, just look for the purple one. Unless you're color blind. Then you're screwed.

January 01, 2010

Well, it's a beautiful crisp New Year's Day, blue skies, soft breeze, perfect temperature for tennis! However, I am inside stamping my fingers to the bone! I'm mailing out new sample cards to about 20 stores on Monday come hell or high water so tennis will just have to wait. You can see some of my progress behind the featured card and stamps. I had to move them to my dining room since my office is a complete disaster with all the stamping going on. On the bright side, there's no reason to clean up just yet!

I am loving the new peace sign! It's a little irregular and funky and the perfect size for all sorts of things. There's also a 'Peace, love & Margaritas' stamp but I haven't gotten around to that one yet. Anyway, I'm going to try and get the new images up on the website this weekend so you'll be able to see all of them - that is unless your pc uses Internet Explorer to browse in which case, expect a crash! Still don't know why and I haven't looked into getting it fixed but I'll get around to it one day.... maybe. In the mean time I'm off to make more damn cards.